Mahindra sees huge demand for heavy commercial vehicles

Mahindra Truck and Bus Division on Wednesday outlined plans to double its market share in the heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs) business within two years. The HCV segment is witnessing robust growth.

Nalin Mehta, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Mahindra Truck and Bus Division, said, “The company has a market share of about 3.7 per cent in the heavy commercial vehicle segment and expects to double this within a couple of years. This optimism is based on the all-round expectation of a robust growth next financial year and launch of new products.”

Speaking after the launch of the latest truck series Blazo here for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, a market which accounts for over 10 per cent of the country’s truck business, Mehta said the business has shown strong growth this fiscal, up 35 per cent over last year.

The growth has come after a prolonged period of recession in the truck industry.

“Given various strong macro economic indicators and the likely growth of the infrastructure sector in the county, particularly roads and mining, we believe the market will see strong double digit numbers. In the overall market growth, we will take a bigger pie,” he said.

This year HCVs are expected to close at about 1,78,000 units in the country, registering a growth of 35 per cent. In this market, Mahindra has 3.7-per cent share. This is expected to get a big boost with the launch of a number of models — trucks and tippers — among others, he said.

Referring to the work on intermediate segment of light commercial vehicles and buses in the 8-16 tonnes where Mahindra does not have presence, he said, “We are investing about ₹700 crore in the intermediate truck/commercial vehicle segment and expect to see the products being rolled out over the next two years.” Mahindra has a strong presence in lower (3.5 to 7.5 tonne) and higher segments of commercial vehicles (25 tonne and above).

“Of the total sales of over 12,000 units as of February in the heavy commercial vehicle segment, about 10 per cent have been exported,” he said.